THAT WEEK IN June, 2021 should have been one of those glorious times in the life of a young intercounty hurler.
Shane O’Donnell was far from the 19-year-old who announced himself with a first half hat-trick of goals in the 2013 All-Ireland final replay. He now had an education behind him, his four years at UCC studying Genetics tying in to another four years dedicated to a PhD in Microbiology.
Then came the glamour of a Fulbright Scholarship to Harvard University in Boston that showed there were few people bothering him for selfies for what he had achieved on a hurling field.
That weekend, he was set for a family wedding. He had just started work and was only four days into a Product Manager job with Eagle Genomics.
But then at training one hot evening, he fell to the ground.He hit his head. Life changed.
“I ended up being out of work for about six or seven weeks and taking unpaid leave,” he says during a Zoom call to explain why he is heading up a Motion to the Gaelic Player’s Associations’ Annual General Meeting around what they term, ‘the inadequacy of the current insurance in safeguarding inter-county players from financial loss.’
“I had just started work and wasn’t really able to argue for paid leave essentially, so I would have taken unpaid leave for six weeks when you add it all up,” he recalls.
“When I went back after the six weeks, I was almost 100% certain I was going to lose my job. I had blown a six-week hole at the start of the most important point of your job. And I couldn’t give them anything definite.
“When I came back, I was doing half-days, reduced screen time days. Bearing in mind my boss was Swedish, he doesn’t know what hurling is and he doesn’t know why suddenly I was off. Thankfully he was very considered about it and treated me fairly.”
Then, he went to make a claim for the loss of earnings. His symptoms were still continuing, but this soured his feelings more.
“I thought (it) would be a matter of filling out the forms and proving that it had happened and then getting to the point of settling the claim for the loss of wages,” he states.
“To give a concept for how long it took, the injury was June 10 ’21 and the payment for the loss of wages was October 14 ’22, so 16 months or something like that.
“…The actual amount was capped. Out of the six weeks, you’re allowed to claim €300 a week, which is essentially a social welfare level of payment. You can’t claim for the first week either so I end up claiming for €1,500.
“Obviously, that’s not going to nearly cover what your loss of wages would have been.”
The Motion will go through the AGM on Saturday at the Midlands Hotel in Portlaoise.
It will be voted through, and from there on, should make an appearance on the Clár of GAA Congress. What happens then is anyone’s guess, however.
O’Donnell found that when he went to speak to GAA figures about the issue, he was crestfallen at the attitude coming back.
“It was this time last year essentially when I was at the end of the process of jumping through all the hoops, get it all signed off from the doctor and everything, only then did I realise how low the payment was capped at so then I would have sent an email through our county board to the director of finance, basically, for the GAA,” O’Donnell recalls.
“And he basically responded with a very condescending email, to be honest. The tone of the email was essentially I should be happy with what they were willing to give me.
“That was essentially what the response was. It stunned me at the time. To be honest, I was absolutely infuriated but there was no recourse, really. That’s what’s written down and I don’t have the ability to change that after the fact.”
He continues, “I think people would be surprised. When you see GAA inter-county players play on the weekend and someone has a severe injury, you’re thinking, ‘God, I hope they get better’ – but you’re definitely not thinking, ‘God, I hope this doesn’t put them in financial ruin.’ Because they’re not covered, and that’s the reality of the situation – the GAA will not cover them. And I don’t think people appreciate that.”
For a time, he was convinced he was finished with the sport.
The consequences were staggering. From falling on a rock-hard pitch with his arms restrained in the middle of a tackle, he spent the night in Limerick hospital.
The following day was a massive one with the O’Donnell family; his brother’s wedding in Donegal. He managed to make it up there just as they were handing out the dessert plates.
For a fortnight after he was in acute pain, which he rated at 9/10 for severity. He couldn’t look at television or a screen of any kind.
When he went into work, he wasn’t fit for it. Literally. He had to have an extended break. When he came back, it was a staged return; half-days here, reduced screen time there. His brother Oisín is a doctor but was unsure of where it was all heading.
Gradually, he made a few club games but it took a long time to let go of his concerns and fears.
He only came back for the championship last year, handed a new role by manager Brian Lohan as a half-forward. The new model emerged with the ability to clip over points from distance after his father remodelled his hurleys and gave him ones with a bit more heft. He also became a target for Eibhear Quilligan’s puckouts with his movement.
When it came to the winter, he decided to stay in Dublin with his girlfriend Niamh. He would not hurl league but came back for the summer stuff. His performances justified the exception.
Why did he come back? Why does anyone play?
“You forget about it when you get back into the panel. I think that’s probably what’s protected the GAA so much.
“Inter-county players, they just love playing the matches and when you’re actually out there playing the games, it’s lucky for them, it’s worth every risk. It’s worth all the sacrifices and it’s worth the risk of financial (risk)… as we’ve discussed, like.
“…The fact that you get to enjoy so much playing and the buzz of putting on the jersey and going out in a big game, it makes all the risks worth it and the opportunity and costs associated with everything you’ve done to that stage.
The GAA were invited to give a right to reply to the assertions made by O’Donnell, and replied; ‘The GPA raised issues around the GAA Player Injury Scheme at a recent JRC (Joint Review Committee) meeting which were noted, and a proposal is being worked on for the next meeting of that committee.
‘The GAA is the only sporting body that runs a Player Injury Scheme and last year spent over €8m assisting 6606 club and county players. The scheme currently provides for a level of additional benefits for inter-county players.’
This week, when it emerged that O’Donnell would be heading up the Motion at the AGM, it took a few significant people by surprise.
“I actually just got a call from Brian Lohan yesterday (Wednesday), from the thing coming up in media over the last couple of days. He hadn’t realised I was out of pocket,” he said.
“He said he would look to try and get that covered if the GAA weren’t. He just assumed that the GAA were covering that.”